BHS sailing ties for second place

The Bainbridge High varsity sailing team tied for second place at the “Team Racing” regatta held on Lake Washington.

May 18, 2016 1:10 pm
Skipper Caelan Juckniess and crew Sophia Kasper (foreground) and skipper Blake Bentzen and crew Nicole Sanford effectively block the competition’s lane as they reach toward the offset mark.
Skipper Caelan Juckniess and crew Sophia Kasper (foreground) and skipper Blake Bentzen and crew Nicole Sanford effectively block the competition’s lane as they reach toward the offset mark.

SEATTLE – The Bainbridge High varsity sailing team tied for second place at the “Team Racing” regatta held on Lake Washington the weekend of April 30 through May 1.

It was the first full regatta in the team racing discipline of the 2016 spring season, and the results demonstrated that Bainbridge is well situated to defend its Northwest District title in team racing when the regional championships are held May 21-22.

Bainbridge tied its closest rival, Sehome High of Bellingham, with equal 10-4 records for the weekend, while placing behind Sehome on tiebreakers based on head-to-head competition.

Of the 12 teams competing in the “Gold “ fleet, the regatta’s winner by a single race was a team comprised of sailors from multiple schools in the Portland area, making that team ineligible to compete in the upcoming district championship.

Spartans Co-Captains Karl Anderson and Caelan Juckniess, as well as Blake Bentzen, skippered the three boats in Bainbridge’s team, assisted by crew Sophie Crandell, Sophia Kasper and Nicole Sanford.

Bainbridge won handily in 10 of their races, while losing twice each to Lincoln (Portland) and Sehome.

The objective in team racing is to usher all three of one school’s boats ahead of the three boats of the competing school.

Unlike the dash to the finish that is “fleet” racing, the 3-on-3 format of team racing features “plays” complete with “blocking” and “passing” maneuvers designed to work the three boats in combination toward a strategic win.

As this was the first team racing regatta in the spring 2016 season in which a full round-robin of competition was accomplished, it is still early in Bainbridge’s seasonal preparation in this specialized discipline and Head Coach Susan Kaseler was pleased with the team’s development of strategic vision, coordination and communication.

In the “Silver” (junior varsity) fleet, the Bainbridge team comprised of skippers Olivia Mitchell, Harry Saliba, Sophie Lewis and Quinn Ring, assisted by crew Amanda Gilmore, Jack Sobeck, Daniel Rentz, Camden Lee and Kat Smith placed second with a 13-3 record, a scant single race behind Silver regatta winner Nikola Tesla STEM High of Seattle.

A second Bainbridge team comprised of skippers Kat Smith, Quinn Ring, Will Price and Roark Coggon, with crew Jack Sobeck and Camden Lee finished a very respectable 10th place, considering these sailors were all sailing in new positions in the team racing specialty.

The weekend of May 14-15, the Bainbridge varsity team will take a break from team racing training and travel to Charleston, South Carolina to compete in the Mallory Trophy, the national high school championships in fleet racing.

This season will mark the 14th year in a row that Bainbridge has represented the Pacific Northwest at the national championships, in either the team or fleet racing disciplines.